The following is a posting we readers at Tyndale House in Cambridge got from our technical officer, who is a rabbinics scholars as well as our computer guru.

Bibles in English and ancient-languages on the web

We now have so many Bibles on the web it can take a long time to find the best.

I have hunted out all the versions available, and made a link for each one with the best facilities for searching and study (such as links to lexicons & parsing).

I made this list while revamping the Tyndale links for Biblical Studies (http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Tyndale/links_Biblical.htm) and while writing a new page summarising Bible Software (http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Tyndale/BibleSoftware.htm).
My most exciting discovery was La Parola's wonderful Greek NT (http://www.laparola.net/greco/index.php?rif1=50&rif2=1%3A1-4&VisTesto=View+text&mss1=&mss2=&ConfMss_Rif=&TrovaVers_Esp=&TrovaVers_Rif=&TrovaVers_Versione=&TrovaPar_Tipo=--&TrovaPar_Rif1=&nVolteMin=1000&nVolteMas=99999&TrovaPar_Rif2=&TrovaPar_Versione=&varianti=s&ord=1&wh=s&tisch=s&biz=s&inter=n&allusioni=s&direzione=v&lin=en&fontuni=) with the major Greek editions, variants, lexicons, allusions and MS comparisons.

This is a continuation of a listing of on-line biblical studies resources we got here at Tyndale House (see "On-line resources [part 1]).

What's the easiest to read? The Message (http://bible.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=Genesis+1&section=0&version=msg&new=1&showtools=1&oq=&NavBook=ge&NavGo=1&NavCurrentChapter=1). This is an intelligently prepared paraphrase which sometimes gets to the meaning better than a word-for-word or even a dynamic equivalent translation. This web version is linked to handy commentaries.

What's the most useful? The New American Standard (http://crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?key=Mat&del=all&add=NASB&add=WHNU&Footnotes=On&Cross-references=On). This modern word-for-word translation is usefully tagged for the underlying Hebrew and Greek. Click on a word for a simple lexicon.

What's the strangest? The Klingon translation (http://crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&key=Gen&add=KLV) based on fictional language of the battle-loving Klingons on Star Trek. Fans have created a 'real' language and done a word-by-word replacement. It is interesting to see which words do not exist in Klingon (so they remain in English) - words like 'forgiveness' and 'grace'.

What's the most valuable? The William Tyndale translation (http://www.faithofgod.net/NTcompare/Matthew.htm). It can be claimed that Tyndale influenced the English language more than Shakespeare, with memorable phrases like Let there be light" and “the powers that be”. A million copies of his New Testament were printed but only two complete copies survived Henry VIII's wrath, and they are now worth millions.

What's Missing from this list? - Tyndale House holds more than 100 English translations (http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Scriptures/), thanks to Duane Duff.

2) Original-Language Bibles

Hebrew Old Testament

Scholars mainly use the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3438052229/tyndalehouse-20/103-1309945-5892650?creative=327641&camp=14573&adid=19K362NM32B3XZ1D7P5D&link_code=as1)(BHS) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3438052229/tyndalehouse-20/103-1309945-5892650?creative=327641&camp=14573&adid=19K362NM32B3XZ1D7P5D&link_code=as1) which is based on the Leningrad Codex (aka St Petersburg Codex). When this text was digitised by the Westminster Hebrew Institute (http://www.wts.edu/hebrew/index.html), they took the opportunity to 'correct' the BHS (http://www.wts.edu/hebrew/whmcodemanual.html) to follow the Leningrad codex more faithfully. The BHS is important for the critical apparatus, though it is now being supplanted by the Quinta (http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/vol07/Weis2002.html) which is also based on the Leningrad Codex. The Aleppo Codex is older and often considered superior (though there are not many differences with the Leningrad Codex) but almost all the Pentateuch has been lost.

Thousands of ancient copies of the New Testament have survived. This enviable situation (which is unparalleled in other ancient literature) has enabled scholars to study copying errors in detail. Three main types of text have resulted from these studies, though their differences are minor.

The Textus Receptus is based on the first edition of the Greek text prepared by Erasmus, before the earliest manuscripts had been discovered. It forms the basis of the earliest English Bibles, notably the King James Bible. It is still used by many because it contains the long reading of 1 John 5.7 which is first found in a Greek manuscript penned a short time before Erasmus published his edition - it was said to have been prepared especially for this purpose!

Most scholars use the Nestle-Alund or United Bible Society text which gives preference to the oldest manuscripts (mainly Vaticanus B and Sinaiticus) and to the papyri from the first three centuries. Decisions about which reading was original is based on which one was most likely to cause scribes to produce the others. The latest editions (NA27 / UBS3) have identical texts with different critical apparatus. The text has remained unchanged since NA26 & UBS3 and will remain unchanged in the next editions. This is very similar to earlier editions by Westcott & Hort, Tischendorf and Weiss, who all followed the same guidelines.

Some scholars use the Majority Text which gives more-or-less equal weight to a much wider number of manuscripts up to about 1500. Decisions about which reading was original is based mainly on the largest number of manuscripts which contain that reading.

All Targums in Aramaic: pointed or translitterated (http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/searching/targumsearch.html)
Pentateuch trans by Etheridge: Ps-Jonathan & Onkelos: English only (http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/pj/psjon.htm)
Psalms & Megillot trans by E M Cook and others: English only (http://www.tulane.edu/~ntcs/tgtext.htm)

OT & NT Syriac Translation (Peshitta):

OT: transliterated or unpointed, linked to lexicon (http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/Peshitta.notice.html)
NT: unpointed, searchable, with parallel English (http://www.crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&key=Mat&add=Peshitta&add=Murdock)
pointed with interlinear English (http://www.peshitta.org/)
transliterated or unpointed, linked to lexicon (http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/cgi-bin/show.browsedialects.cgi?R1=6)
Syraic & Hebrew font, with interlinear English (http://peshitta.info/gospel/matthew_1.htm)
NT trans by Murdoch: English with parallel Syriac (http://www.crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&key=Mat&add=Peshitta&add=Murdock)English only (http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/AramaicNTtools/Murdock/murdock.htm)
NT trans by Etheridge: English only (http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/AramaicNTtools/Etheridge/etheridge.htm)
OT trans by Lamsa: English only (http://www.aramaicpeshitta.com/OTtools/LamsaOT.htm)

The Sword (http://www.crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?key=Matt&del=all&add=WHNU&add=NASB&Footnotes=On&Cross-references=On) online is becoming the best Bible on the web. Its Web 2 programming gives almost-instant pop-up lexicons and parsing. eg see OT in parallel Greek, Hebrew & English LXX & MT (http://www.crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?key=Gen&del=all&add=LXX&add=NASB&add=WLC&add=NASB&Footnotes=On&Cross-references=On) or NT in parallel Greek & English with linked parsing (http://www.crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&add=WHNU&add=NASB&key=Matt)

Greek NT with accents (http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Download/UnicodeTexts/Gk-NT_accents_based_on_NA27.zip) (NA27/UBS4 family) (http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Download/UnicodeTexts/Gk-NT_accents_based_on_NA27.zip)
(UBS3, UBS4, NA26, NA27, and the coming NA28 all use the same text (http://www.logos.com/support/lbs/na-v-ubs), though UBS & NA use slightly different orthography)

jdarlack

05-16-2006, 10:48 PM

Thanks Dale, for posting these links on the forum! Many blessings to you and to Dr. Instone-Brewer over there at Tyndale!

paul

05-17-2006, 01:17 AM

Thank You for posting this resource. What awesome availability is being afforded us. The Lord's servants are generous people.

arggem

05-17-2006, 07:29 PM

Great post! Thanks!!

(Um...feel free to keep adding to this!)

Dale A. Brueggemann

05-18-2006, 06:36 AM

Great post! Thanks! (Um...feel free to keep adding to this!)

Maybe I'll add a few of the websites I've enjoyed, not necessarily biblical studies: